⭗ REDIRECTIONS: XXXI ⭗
⭗ LONGWINTER IN UVG #4 ⭗
⭗ EAST ALONG THE RIBLINZA ⭗
“What else did you see as you made your way east?” Lleva asked. “Surely not everything in Brezim succumbed to Winterwhite’s wrath.”
“No, not everything,” Kvelak said. “I met other refugees as I made my way east along the Riblinza. Most were bound to Pey Awlkay. What none of us knew was that it would not come to be the haven we were hoping it would be.”
“What else did you see as you made your way east?” Lleva asked. “Surely not everything in Brezim succumbed to Winterwhite’s wrath.”
“No, not everything,” Kvelak said. “I met other refugees as I made my way east along the Riblinza. Most were bound to Pey Awlkay. What none of us knew was that it would not come to be the haven we were hoping it would be.”
⭗ BACKGROUND ⭗
Brezim is the setting of Luka Rejec’s Longwinter books. While not explicitly set in the same world as Ultraviolet Grasslands (also by Rejec,) both settings have enough similarities in terminology and in encounters that they can mesh together relatively easily. Still, there is room for more flavor to integrate the two together when moving your UVG caravan through Brezim and experiencing the wrath of Winterwhite. Some of my ideas for encounters which mesh with both worlds are below:
Brezim is the setting of Luka Rejec’s Longwinter books. While not explicitly set in the same world as Ultraviolet Grasslands (also by Rejec,) both settings have enough similarities in terminology and in encounters that they can mesh together relatively easily. Still, there is room for more flavor to integrate the two together when moving your UVG caravan through Brezim and experiencing the wrath of Winterwhite. Some of my ideas for encounters which mesh with both worlds are below:
⭗ PEY AWLKAY ⭗
East along the Riblinza, beyond Pey Jibbey and north of the Dark Forest, past the rough beast trails spotted with outcroppings of wolffolk grinding stones and appleberry scrub bushes, rests the village of Pey Awlkay. To many, this village is seen as the last stop out of Brezim on the journey east, but more recently, rumors have come west that it is abandoned, sinking into the snow and rotting under Winterwhite’s wrath. While it was a thriving village, it was home to all of the usual denizens and services one could come to expect in such a place. It seems like a long shot now, but some of the villagers may still be hiding there, weathering both the winter and whatever has left the village to be buried by the endlessly falling snow.
Why Pey Awlkay was abandoned is entirely up to you, but there are many rumors to be heard while following the Riblinza east. Any of the following rumors may be true, (or all of them, or none.)
1. Radiation ghosts from miners trapped in the old Awlkay Ltd. mines rose out of the ground with the coming of winter to feast on the populace. These spirits have bathed the whole village in an aura of electromagificent radiation.
2. A rich fossilbed of dragons with tantalum scales was discovered right before winter hit and heavy snowfall buried the village. The dragons have been turned to evil purpose by a necrodancer who is hoping to make the most of all of the corpses that are sure to pile up in the wake of Winterwhite’s wrath. The necrodancer has designs (or delusions) of driving his undead army south to oppose and conquer the various factions of the Ultraviolet Grasslands as soon as the weather clears.
3. Nocturnal invasions by swarms of vomish snow-apes driven out of their burrows by awakening machine minds drove the villagers from Pey Awlkay. A handful of die-hard baronials stayed behind to booby-trap the village and play guerilla tactics against the snow-apes, but even they were driven out eventually, leaving many devious and elaborate traps behind.
4. Rumors spread that Pey Awlkay fell not to Winterwhite or her minions, but to a simple plague. No one can agree on the form or symptoms of the disease, much less whether it was bacterial, viral, or a plague of the dancing variety.
5. There are rumors that a chill fog of crystalline ice bats swarmed the village, whispering the words of Winterwhite into every sleeping ear. Half of the village was driven mad in one night, the other half in the next.
East along the Riblinza, beyond Pey Jibbey and north of the Dark Forest, past the rough beast trails spotted with outcroppings of wolffolk grinding stones and appleberry scrub bushes, rests the village of Pey Awlkay. To many, this village is seen as the last stop out of Brezim on the journey east, but more recently, rumors have come west that it is abandoned, sinking into the snow and rotting under Winterwhite’s wrath. While it was a thriving village, it was home to all of the usual denizens and services one could come to expect in such a place. It seems like a long shot now, but some of the villagers may still be hiding there, weathering both the winter and whatever has left the village to be buried by the endlessly falling snow.
Why Pey Awlkay was abandoned is entirely up to you, but there are many rumors to be heard while following the Riblinza east. Any of the following rumors may be true, (or all of them, or none.)
1. Radiation ghosts from miners trapped in the old Awlkay Ltd. mines rose out of the ground with the coming of winter to feast on the populace. These spirits have bathed the whole village in an aura of electromagificent radiation.
2. A rich fossilbed of dragons with tantalum scales was discovered right before winter hit and heavy snowfall buried the village. The dragons have been turned to evil purpose by a necrodancer who is hoping to make the most of all of the corpses that are sure to pile up in the wake of Winterwhite’s wrath. The necrodancer has designs (or delusions) of driving his undead army south to oppose and conquer the various factions of the Ultraviolet Grasslands as soon as the weather clears.
3. Nocturnal invasions by swarms of vomish snow-apes driven out of their burrows by awakening machine minds drove the villagers from Pey Awlkay. A handful of die-hard baronials stayed behind to booby-trap the village and play guerilla tactics against the snow-apes, but even they were driven out eventually, leaving many devious and elaborate traps behind.
4. Rumors spread that Pey Awlkay fell not to Winterwhite or her minions, but to a simple plague. No one can agree on the form or symptoms of the disease, much less whether it was bacterial, viral, or a plague of the dancing variety.
5. There are rumors that a chill fog of crystalline ice bats swarmed the village, whispering the words of Winterwhite into every sleeping ear. Half of the village was driven mad in one night, the other half in the next.
⭗ FURTHER EAST ⭗
In, around, and east of Pey Awlkay, refugees fleeing Winterwhite’s wrath might encounter any (or all, or none) of the following:
* San Runsberg runs a curious rookery for albino messenger crows on the outskirts of Pey Awlkay. It is said that he keeps an altar to Winterwhite in his home and shows his devotion with offerings of milk and braided bread, but such an open embrace of backward local traditions would not be tolerated so close to the village, would it? Maybe his devotion is the one thing that has saved him?
* Meitra Darvicz, Outfitters, Ltd, founded by Marshall Meitra Darvicz (now retired from keeping the law) crafts, machines and maintains some of the finest firearms in all of Brezim. She was journeying with an eastbound caravan when winter hit and the horrors of Winterwhite’s wrath came down out of the mountains. Word is, though, Darvicz is the type that always has an extra gun and isn't likely to get caught off guard by anything or anyone.
* Lord Isenir Highwater disappeared into the three story Highwater Estate Mansion in the woods beyond Pey Awlkay several seasons ago and hasn't been seen since. Those who remember him say that he had been raving about the coming of Winterwhite, and the need to prepare for a winter without end. Some will say he was mad, others that he was driven by prophetic visions, and that his mansion is a maze of traps with a great haul of supplies hidden away at the center. Whether or not he is still in his mansion, still alive, or otherwise, no one can say.
* Gorgon-3 is the local polybody demonologist. A competent witch-priest, he is accompanied by an eccentric retinue. It is said that Gorgon-3 was last seen performing the final rites for a swarm of recently flayed and exorcized undead somewhere near Pey Awlkay. Whether or not Gorgon-3 and his retinue are fighting against the forces of Winterwhite in the area or whether they have moved on remains to be seen.
In, around, and east of Pey Awlkay, refugees fleeing Winterwhite’s wrath might encounter any (or all, or none) of the following:
* San Runsberg runs a curious rookery for albino messenger crows on the outskirts of Pey Awlkay. It is said that he keeps an altar to Winterwhite in his home and shows his devotion with offerings of milk and braided bread, but such an open embrace of backward local traditions would not be tolerated so close to the village, would it? Maybe his devotion is the one thing that has saved him?
* Meitra Darvicz, Outfitters, Ltd, founded by Marshall Meitra Darvicz (now retired from keeping the law) crafts, machines and maintains some of the finest firearms in all of Brezim. She was journeying with an eastbound caravan when winter hit and the horrors of Winterwhite’s wrath came down out of the mountains. Word is, though, Darvicz is the type that always has an extra gun and isn't likely to get caught off guard by anything or anyone.
* Lord Isenir Highwater disappeared into the three story Highwater Estate Mansion in the woods beyond Pey Awlkay several seasons ago and hasn't been seen since. Those who remember him say that he had been raving about the coming of Winterwhite, and the need to prepare for a winter without end. Some will say he was mad, others that he was driven by prophetic visions, and that his mansion is a maze of traps with a great haul of supplies hidden away at the center. Whether or not he is still in his mansion, still alive, or otherwise, no one can say.
* Gorgon-3 is the local polybody demonologist. A competent witch-priest, he is accompanied by an eccentric retinue. It is said that Gorgon-3 was last seen performing the final rites for a swarm of recently flayed and exorcized undead somewhere near Pey Awlkay. Whether or not Gorgon-3 and his retinue are fighting against the forces of Winterwhite in the area or whether they have moved on remains to be seen.
⭗ PEY WALKURE ⭗
It is said that a day’s walk in fair weather from Pey Awlkay (or three days if the weather is poor) one will find the temperate valley where the semi-mythical city of Pey Walkure, beyond the reach of Winterwhite’s cruel grasp. Not much is known about Pey Walkure, but most have heard the rumors or legends about it. In the last, desperate days of Winterwhite’s wrath, when the cold is cruelest, these stories become like a guiding light to those scattered and ragged few who might hope to escape the endless winter by making their way east along the Riblinza.
Any of the following rumors may be true, (or all of them, or none.)
1. Pey Walkure is ruled by a warrior class of winged wolf-riders who maintain a strong matriarchal meritocracy.
2. The warrior women of Pey Walkure shun firearms but stun with their skill at using spears and javelins.
3. The valley around Pey Walkure is watched over by Earthbeater. The weather is almost always temperate and the crops are abundant, large and delicious.
4. Winterwhite has been forever banished from the valley around Pey Walkure due to a long-forgotten agreement between her and Fireflinger. She resents this.
5. A local land spirit protects the valley. This land spirit manifests as a white fox woman. This land spirit has regular dealings with Winterwhite on behalf of the denizens of the valley.
6. The locals of Pey Walkure leave offerings of fish and amber glass at marbled fox altars spotted throughout the hills.
7. One of the largest mountains near the valley is known as Stihlberg. It is also called “The Cracked Mountain” by locals and it is an abundant source of unbreakable alloys from long, long ago. It may be the remains of an alien arcology and extraterrestrial terraforming unit waiting to be activated and fulfill its purpose..
8. There is a secret spring in the hills near Pey Walkure that has hallucinogenic properties.
9. The leader of Pey Walkure is ten feet tall, has hair made of gold and wears violet cat-skin gloves.
10. There is a guild of song-carvers in Pey Walkure. They sing crystalline sculptures into novel shapes. It is said that they can make more than just pretty statues. Some say that they can make weapons sharp enough to split time itself.
It is said that a day’s walk in fair weather from Pey Awlkay (or three days if the weather is poor) one will find the temperate valley where the semi-mythical city of Pey Walkure, beyond the reach of Winterwhite’s cruel grasp. Not much is known about Pey Walkure, but most have heard the rumors or legends about it. In the last, desperate days of Winterwhite’s wrath, when the cold is cruelest, these stories become like a guiding light to those scattered and ragged few who might hope to escape the endless winter by making their way east along the Riblinza.
Any of the following rumors may be true, (or all of them, or none.)
1. Pey Walkure is ruled by a warrior class of winged wolf-riders who maintain a strong matriarchal meritocracy.
2. The warrior women of Pey Walkure shun firearms but stun with their skill at using spears and javelins.
3. The valley around Pey Walkure is watched over by Earthbeater. The weather is almost always temperate and the crops are abundant, large and delicious.
4. Winterwhite has been forever banished from the valley around Pey Walkure due to a long-forgotten agreement between her and Fireflinger. She resents this.
5. A local land spirit protects the valley. This land spirit manifests as a white fox woman. This land spirit has regular dealings with Winterwhite on behalf of the denizens of the valley.
6. The locals of Pey Walkure leave offerings of fish and amber glass at marbled fox altars spotted throughout the hills.
7. One of the largest mountains near the valley is known as Stihlberg. It is also called “The Cracked Mountain” by locals and it is an abundant source of unbreakable alloys from long, long ago. It may be the remains of an alien arcology and extraterrestrial terraforming unit waiting to be activated and fulfill its purpose..
8. There is a secret spring in the hills near Pey Walkure that has hallucinogenic properties.
9. The leader of Pey Walkure is ten feet tall, has hair made of gold and wears violet cat-skin gloves.
10. There is a guild of song-carvers in Pey Walkure. They sing crystalline sculptures into novel shapes. It is said that they can make more than just pretty statues. Some say that they can make weapons sharp enough to split time itself.
⭗ OUR PARTY (SO FAR) ⭗
"Charred-Hand" a perfectly ordinary and unassuming wastelander
The Blue Oracle, Dreamer of Dreams
Ilod Kvelak, Redlander Merchant and Caravaneer
Coda-1, Coda-2 and Coda-3, a Bluelander polybody pilgrim, allegedly.
Lleva Vyeldisana, Greenfolk Naturalist and Zoa Conservationist
"Charred-Hand" a perfectly ordinary and unassuming wastelander
Coda-1, Coda-2 and Coda-3, a Bluelander polybody pilgrim, allegedly.
Lleva Vyeldisana, Greenfolk Naturalist and Zoa Conservationist
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